Archive for the ‘Sri Lanka’ Category
Saturday, January 12th, 2008
Damien Murphy; 12/1/08
The Iranian who came to symbolise the debate over asylum seekers during the Howard government era has been awarded compensation of more than $800,000, double previous payouts. Parviz Yousefi, 40, gained national attention for sewing his lips together, attempting suicide four times and going on hunger strikes after authorities separated him from his wife and son at Woomera detention centre. He was kept in custody for three years as the government decided whether the Yousefis were genuine refugees despite medical recommendations that he should be released into appropriate care.
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Posted in Asia, Australia, Human Rights, Refugee & Migrant, Sri Lanka | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 9th, 2008
Cath Hart; 9/1/08
Nauru has warned that the Rudd Government’s plan to scrap its immigration detention centre could slash the nation’s earnings by 20 per cent, leaving its economy on the verge of collapse. Nauruan Foreign Minister Kieren Keke yesterday told The Australian that his Government would seek compensation from Australia amid estimates the centre’s closure would cut the Pacific nation’s $28.5 million GDP by a fifth. Mr Keke warned Canberra to move cautiously on the shutdown and said Nauru would seek various forms of assistance from Australia - such as capital, skills training and immigration privileges.
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Posted in Australia, Human Rights, Pacific Region, Refugee & Migrant, Sri Lanka | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 8th, 2008
8/1/08
Sri Lankan Catholic civil-society groups have highlighted the plight of their countrymen in the embattled Jaffna peninsula through an exhibition of photos and video clips taken by priests and rights activists. “People in the southern part of Sri Lanka do not know what is happening with the 600,000 people in Jaffna,” said Ruki Fernando of Law and Society Trust during the Dec. 21 exhibition at the Center for Society and Religion in Colombo. The trust, a secular NGO, works with Catholic and other groups on human rights issues. The program, organized by Catholic human rights activists, included a photo exhibit, video footage, a drama, speeches and a forum for experience sharing. About 40 priests, Religious and civic activists including members of women’s movements attended.
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Posted in Human Rights, Sri Lanka | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 1st, 2008
Mohammed Rasooldeen, 1/1/08
A Saudi sponsor agreed to a settlement of SR43,200 in back wages to Reeta Nisanka, a Sri Lankan maid who was tracked down by authorities at the behest of her parents back home. Arab News learned yesterday that the maid had been working since 1999 for Ajuruz Al-Abdul Aziz, a businessman in Khaldia District in Gweiyyah, 400 km from Riyadh. She had only received three months’ wages. “The sponsor paid the salary for the first three months and later it was a case of postponement and he promised me that he would pay me in full when I decided to go home one day,” she said. Nisanka, who is from a village 140 km from the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, reportedly had stopped contacting her family
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Posted in Asia, Sri Lanka, Workers | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 1st, 2008
1/1/08
For recent articles on Sri Lanka go to http://www.article2.org/countrydisplay.php;
insert: Sri Lanka; then: submit
- Torture is a political product; Posted on: 2007-09-18 - Vol. 06 - No. 04 August 2007 - Focus: human rights at UPI Asia Online
- Comprehensive torture prevention in Sri Lanka; Posted on: 2007-06-04 - Vol. 06 - No. 02 April 2007 - Focus: dysfuntional policing & subverted justice in Sri Lanka
- Can a dysfunctional policing system be reformed?; Posted on: 2007-04-04 - Vol. 06 - No. 02 April 2007 - Focus: dysfuntional policing & subverted justice in Sri Lanka
- Subverted justice and the breakdown of the rule of law in Sri Lanka; Posted on: 2007-04-04 - Vol. 06 - No. 02 April 2007 - Focus: dysfuntional policing & subverted justice in Sri Lanka
- Contempt of the constitution: Reaching the zenith of disregard for the rule of law in Sri Lanka; Posted on: 2006-06-06 - Vol. 05 - No. 02 April 2006 - Focus: Impunity vs the Rule of Law in Indonesia
- New book: The other Lanka; Posted on: 2006-06-06 - Vol. 05 - No. 02 April 2006 - Focus: Impunity vs the Rule of Law in Indonesia
- An x-ray of the Sri Lankan policing system and torture of the poor; Posted on: 2005-11-14 - Vol. 04 - No. 05 October 2005 - Focus: An x-ray of the Sri Lankan Policing System & Torture of the Poor
- The superior probability of guilt and its application by the Sri Lankan police; Posted on: 2005-11-14 - Vol. 04 - No. 05 October 2005 - Focus: An x-ray of the Sri Lankan Policing System & Torture of the Poor
See: http://www.article2.org/
Tags: Articles, Sri Lanka
Posted in Human Rights, Sri Lanka, Terrorism | No Comments »
Sunday, December 23rd, 2007
Lisa Carty; 23/12/07
Myron Taleka thought all his Christmases had come at once when he got a job as a driver at Nauru’s detention centre more than two years ago. The former telecommunications worker was hired on four times his previous pay and had $600 a fortnight to support his wife, six kids, his widowed sister and her children, as well as other relatives. It’s been a matter of pride that no one in his circle has gone hungry since he got the detention centre job.
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Posted in Australia, China, Refugee & Migrant, Sri Lanka, Workers | No Comments »
Thursday, December 20th, 2007
Melani Manel Perera; 20/12/07
A “cage”, a “narrow prison” where one can wait for hours just for the army’s permission to cross the street, where one can die of hunger if the authorities decide to block supply channles for “reasons of security”, and where a culture of violence and oppression is growing more fierce. This is Jaffna, a small peninsula to the north of Sri Lanka, a place where civil war has been underway for 24 years, and about which “the world knows nothing, since news does not spread from here even to the rest of the country”. Recounting the dramatic situation of Jaffna is the provincial superior of the Oblate Fathers of Mary Immaculate (OMI) in Sri Lanka, Fr S.M. Selvaratnam. AsiaNews interviewed him while he was visiting Colombo.
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Posted in Sri Lanka, Terrorism | No Comments »
Thursday, November 15th, 2007
Barbara Bibbo’; 15/11/07
Qatar and India will sign a new labour protocol next week that will finally improve the labour conditions of Qatar’s biggest expatriate community, a visiting Indian official here said.Eduardo Faleiro, commissioner for non-resident Indian affairs in the state of Goa, said Qatar’s labour minister would visit India on November 21 to sign the protocol which is set to improve employment and working conditions for the 200,000 Indians living in Qatar.
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Posted in Asia, Human Rights, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, The Philippines, Workers | No Comments »
Wednesday, November 14th, 2007
Tom Allard; 14/11/07
The Australian Federal Police believed charging a Sydney medical student, Izhar ul-Haque, with a terrorism offence would encourage him to turn informant for them, documents and testimony before the Supreme Court show. The motivation behind Mr ul-Haque’s arrest revealed in the documents was backed by the actions of federal officers, including an illegal visit to Goulburn’s Supermax prison to urge him to help them soon after he was charged. The Supreme Court case against Mr ul-Haque collapsed on Monday after Justice Michael Adams found the records of interview were inadmissible due to “oppressive conduct” - including Mr ul-Haque’s false imprisonment and kidnapping by two ASIO officers.
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Posted in Human Rights, Sri Lanka, Terrorism | No Comments »
Monday, November 12th, 2007
9/11/07
Catholic and Buddhist priests handed a petition to the office of the president calling for peace in Sri Lanka after more than two decades of war. A small group of clergy was allowed to enter the President’s House in Colombo on Nov. 6 to hand in the petition addressed to the president. Initiated by a Catholic bishop in the war-torn north and signed by 85,000 people of various faiths from around the country, it calls for an end to the war between Tamil rebels and the Sinhalese-led government that has raged on this island since 1983. The petition, written in English, calls for peace, not war. Part of the text includes an emotional appeal for the victims of the war.
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Posted in Christianity, Sri Lanka, Terrorism | No Comments »
